「雙語」商人和他的驢子 A Merchant and his Donkey

商人和他的驢子

One beautiful spring morning, a merchant loaded his donkey with bags of salt to go to the market, in order to sell the salt. The merchant and his donkey were walking along together. They had not walked far when they reached a river on the way.

一個美麗的春天的早晨，一個商人馱著他的驢子去市場賣鹽。商人和他的驢子一起走著。他們沒走多遠(yuǎn)就到了路上的一條河邊。

Unfortunately, the donkey slipped and fell into the river. As it scrambled up the bank of the river, it noticed that the bags of salt loaded on his back had become lighter.

不幸的是，驢子滑了一跤掉進(jìn)了河里。當(dāng)爬上河岸時，它發(fā)現(xiàn)背上的鹽袋子變輕了。

There was nothing the merchant could do except return home, where he loaded his donkey with more bags of salt. As they reached the slippery riverbank again, the donkey fell into the river, this time deliberately. Thus the salt was wasted again.

商人只能回家，他在驢背上又放了幾袋鹽。當(dāng)他們再次到達(dá)滑滑的河岸時，驢子又掉進(jìn)了河里，這次是故意的。于是鹽又被浪費了。

By now the merchant knew the donkey’s trick. He wanted to teach the animal a lesson. As he returned home the second time with the donkey, the merchant loaded bags of sponges on its back.

這時商人知道了驢子的把戲。他想給這只動物上一課。當(dāng)他第二次帶著驢子回家時，商人裝了一袋袋的海綿。

The duo set out on their trip to the market a third time. On reaching the river, the donkey very cleverly fell into the water again. But now, instead of the load becoming lighter, it became heavier.

兩人第三次踏上了市場之旅。驢子一到河邊，就很聰明地又掉進(jìn)了水里。但現(xiàn)在，這次不是變輕了，而是變重了。

The merchant laughed at the donkey and said, “You foolish donkey, your trick has been discovered. You should know that you cannot fool anyone too many times.”

商人嘲笑驢子說:“你這頭蠢驢，你的把戲已經(jīng)被識破了。你應(yīng)該知道騙人是騙不久的。”